Agriculture in India

In India, there are two main agricultural seasons in a year. The Kharif season or the summer season; and The Rabi season or the Winter season.The Kharif season starts in June when the South-West monsoon starts. Seeds are sown in June and July and crops are harvested in September and October. Crops which require large quantities of water are cultivated during the Kharif season. The main Kharif crops are rice, sugar-cane, cotton, tobacco, maize etc. These crops cover 65% of total cultivated area.

The Rabi Season starts in the middle of October when the south-west monsoon retreats and the north-east Monsoon begins. Seeds are sown in October and crops are harvested in March and April. Generally, crops which require less water are grown during the rabi season. The main rabi crops are wheat, barley, gram, mustard, linseed etc. These crops require cooler conditions and less moisture.Rabi crops account for 33% of cropped area.

Besides the above two groups of crops, there are certain crops which are grown throughout the year in all parts of the country under artificial irrigation, they are called zaid crops. The chief zaid crops are rice, maize, melons, groundnut, water melons, cucumber, leafy and tuber vegetables etc.

Dry Farming

Dry farming is a system under which farming is carried on in the regions where the rainfall is scanty i.e. less than 50 Cm annually and where irrigation facilities are either absent or very little. It is followed in Gujarat, Rajasthan, South Punjab, Northern Maharashtra. Generally, single-cropping is practised under this system. Under this system, only those crops which can withstand drought conditions, such as jowar and bajra are grown.

to retreat –отступать

rabi crop - культуры, выращиваемые в сезон раби

sugar-cane – сахарный тростник

gram – турецкий горох

mustard - горчица

linseed - льняное семя, лен обыкновенный

leafy vegetables – зеленые овощные культуры

dry farming – богарное земледелие, земледелие в засушливых районах

scanty – скудный, ограниченный

single-cropping – выращивание одной культуры в год, монокультура

jowar – сорго

bajra – африканское просо

facilities - оборудование

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